"The State of Israel ... will ensure complete equality of social and political
rights of all its inhabitants irrespective of religion ... it will guarantee freedom
of religion and conscience." - May 1948)

Quote

"In pluralism you can’t just say, 'I like it.' You have to present an intelligent argument for embracing your conviction. And, I say there can be conviction and depth if you learn to hear your own music without having to negate the other. Acclimation without negation. I don’t have to negate the other in order to affirm what I have."

The religion-state aspects of Israel's Nation-state billWritten by Uri Regev on 18/10/2017Next week the Knesset Special Committee on the Nation-State Bill (formally, 'Basic Law: Israel - The Nation-State of the Jewish People') will be deliberating on the revised draft bill, which was initiated by fourteen MKs from the Likud, Jewish Home, Yisrael Beiteinu, and Kulanu parties.

Knesset Internal Affairs Committee Chair stoops even lower!Written by on 18/11/2016The Jewish Federations of North America convened their General Assembly earlier this week, and impressed upon Prime Minister Netanyahu how strongly they feel about implementing the Western Wall Agreement that his Government reached with Women of the Wall, and the Reform and Conservative movements. While the Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to the agreement, but pleaded to them for patience & silence, MK David Amsalem, a senior member of Netanyahu's Likud party, in his official capacity as Chairman of the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee, attempted to sabotage the agreement because it offends his religious sentiments. In doing so he had no compunction acknowledging that this would offend American Jewry.

MK Amsalem's ugly disdain for Diaspora JewryWritten by Uri Regev on 08/11/2016We who truly care about Israel's well-being and bond with world Jewry must not continue tolerating such contempt for (and humiliation of) Diaspora Jewry and the largest Jewish religious streams at the hands of the leaders of the parties that serve in his Government Coalition.

PM to Diaspora Jews: Be Patient! We say: NO!Written by Uri Regev on 04/11/2016Hiddush's simple, straightforward review of the comments regarding the Western Wall made by the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Knesset, and the Head of the Opposition during the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors meeting this week, teaches us much about how Israel's political leadership prefers to deal with crises in Israel's relations to the Diaspora: it's called "Damage Control."

Chief Rabbi Lau's blatant anti-pluralism hypocrisyWritten by Uri Regev on 16/12/2015Last week, Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau publicly rebuked Naftali Bennett, Israel’s minister of education and Diaspora affairs. Bennett’s religious sin, per Lau, was visiting the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan, and tweeting an enthusiastic reflection of the school and the love for Israel and Judaism that he had seen there.

Chief Rabbi Lau publicly anti-Diaspora JudaismWritten by Uri Regev on 13/12/2015It is difficult to conceive of a greater contradiction than that between Chief Rabbi David Lau’s outrageous statement last week, lashing out at Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s visit to the Conservative Movement’s Schechter School in Manhattan, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s welcome declaration at last month’s General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, where he stated that he would “ensure that all Jews – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox – feel at home in Israel.”